ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – A milestone season for the program came to an end in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Championships semifinals, with the Blazers falling to top-seeded Eastern University 3-0.
Set Scores
The Eagles defeated the Blazers 33-31, 25-12, 25-11.
Inside the Box Score
Ann Ofoegbu (Falling Waters, W.Va./Spring Mills) led Hood with 10 kills.
Maria Ricketts (Adamstown, Md./New Life Christian) had a team-high 29 assists in the match.
Emma McGraw (Forest Hill, Md./Concordia Preparatory) ended the evening with 13 digs for the most on the team.
How it Happened
The opening set was the most exciting one since, well the final set of the Blazers' previous match. Despite being put in an early hole by the hometown Eagles, a 7-2 run thanks to kills from
Sami Betley (Bel Air, Md./Mercy) and
Anna Daley (Erie, Pa./Harborcreek) helped Hood tie things up at 16. After a trio of points for Eastern, the Blazers went on a 6-1 streak that featured a kill and then an ace from
Cam Madden (Carlisle, Pa./Big Spring) to jump into the lead.
Sitting at 22-20 late in the set, Hood was the first to get to set point at 24-22, but the Eagles held on to get three straight and force overtime. The Blazers fended off the first few set points Eastern got and even picked up their own set point at 29-28 with back-to-back kills from Madden and Daley. The Eagles closed the gap again, though, managing to power past Hood's defense a few points later and take the longest set the Blazers had played this season to go up 1-0 in the match.
After going down 10-4 early in set two, Hood again started fighting back with four straight points bring its deficit to just three at 12-9, but a 7-0 run from Eastern essentially iced the set, as the Blazers would only score three more points to go down 2-0 in the match.
In the third set, the Eagles would open with a 10-1 run and maintain that lead throughout, never letting Hood get more than two points at a time while getting ever closer to that 25th point. A 4-1 run from the Blazers late looked like they might try to make another surprise comeback, but the spark was snuffed out as it got started, and Eastern would ultimately end Hood's best season since 2015 in straight sets.
For the Opponent
Hannah Pringle had 15 kills in the match.
Viviana Fragoso finished with 23 digs.
Notes
Hood's season comes to an end at 8-20 (4-3).
Ofoegbu wraps up her career with 1,196 kills for the second most in program history.
Up Next
The Blazers will return for the 2026 season.
